On the eve of the Florida Panthers’ season opener, Paul Maurice warned about the road ahead.
Center Sam Bennett will be out for at least the first week, defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour will be out at least until mid-December, with three key players missing for the start of the season and new additions to this year’s team. There are 11 players added to the 23-man roster. The Panthers will have to balance the need to get off to a strong start with an early adjustment period while starting the season with a three-game road trip.
“We have to get into the mud as quickly and as quickly as possible and make sure we’re comfortable there,” the coach said.
That belief was reinforced after Thursday’s 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild to open the season, even though the team was more productive.
The Panthers were in that position a lot last year, which made them better in the long run and ultimately led them to the Stanley Cup Final.
Experience in that regard, learning how to not get down on yourself when things get tough, should help, but there’s still a learning process once the season starts.
“It’s not an easy start for us,” star winger Matthew Tkachuk said. We believe in what we’ve built here and we want to continue that. ”
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky added: “We have new players coming in and we’re just building chemistry, trust and belief with each other.
“That’s the process.”
Uvis Balinski’s debut film
There was a lot of fanfare for rookie forward Macky Samoskevic on Thursday, but he wasn’t the only Panthers player to make his NHL debut on Opening Day.
Defenseman Ubis Balinskis, who signed with the Panthers this offseason after spending his entire professional career playing in Europe, also played in his first NHL game in Florida’s loss to Minnesota.
It was a day Balinsky thought might never happen.
“I’ve dreamed of playing in the NHL since I was a kid,” Balinskis told reporters Friday in Winnipeg. “I probably forgot about it when I played professionally in Europe for a few years, but ever since I signed, it’s been a dream of mine again. I’m really glad it happened.”
Balinski had spent the past three seasons playing in the Czech Republic’s highest level ice hockey league, the Czech Extraliga, but he really started to get noticed in Latvia, where he competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics and won a bronze medal. It was when I played for the national team. 2019 World Championship.
The 27-year-old defenseman has attacking talent, scoring 25 goals and 50 assists in 140 games over three seasons in the Czech Extraliga, and impressed enough in training camp to earn a spot in the squad.
“We like the way he moves the puck and the way he plays the game without fear,” Maurice said. “He’s trying to make plays, he’s trying to get involved, he’s trying to kill plays. There doesn’t seem to be any tension.”
This and that
â–Ş Panthers general manager Bill Zito spoke about Tkachuk’s impact on the team and South Florida during the first break of Thursday’s Bally Sports Florida broadcast. , and in our hockey community, the greater Broward community, he understands that. He’s genuine, honest, and the kind of person you think he is. The boys love him, he loves the boys and he’s a great addition on every level.”
â–Ş In his first start of the season for the Charlotte Checkers, goaltender Spencer Knight stopped 25 of 27 shots in Charlotte’s 4-2 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday. The Penguins scored all of their goals in the third period and the final, two into an empty net.